2010 gave us a third season of “Damages” likely FX’s best original series ever, with an engrossing third-season launch that tackles the life-destroying Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme.
Class-action lawyer Patty Hewes is working to recover money for the victims of Madoff-like douchenozzle Louis Tobin. I laud the producers for their inspired choice of target; one of the few things that infuriates me more than Madoff is the fact that our hard-earned tax dollars financed the incompetent Security and Exchange Commission that empowered Madoff’s wholesale bilkage.
Campbell Scott joins the cast as Tobin’s anguished son and Lily Tomlin as Tobin’s seemingly bewildered wife. Most gratifyingly, Martin Short does a terrific job playing it straight as Tobin’s lawyer. (The role reminds me that just before Short introduced Ed Grimley to SCTV, he played lead lawyer Tucker Kerwin in a short-lived 1979 ABC sitcom titled “The Associates.” Like “The Paper Chase,” that series was based on a novel by Harvard law school grad John Jay Osbourne.)
Rose Byrne is back as Ellen Parsons, now working full-time for the D.A. Arthur Frobisher is back. Returning earlier are Michael Nouri as Patty’s now-estranged husband Phil Grey and Tom Noonan as detective Vic Huntley.
Reiko Aylesworth and Sarah Wynter, who both joined “24” in its second season, now both join “Damages” in its third.
And Keith Carradine, fresh off “Dexter” and “Dollhouse,” (the man apparently likes these one-word “D” dramas) is now lurking about in Patty’s orbit.
… Patty, played once again with a bracing mixture of venom and good intentions by the inimitable Glenn Close, is about to get our money back for us from a fraudulent financier. Right off the bat that may strike you as a more fun case than last season's environmental conspiracy, and two episodes in, at least, that proves to be the case. …
… Opening with a bang, literally, the third season of this gravity-defying balancing act of a show promises to be the best one yet. Jumping at the chance to fictionalize Bernie Madoff, here thinly disguised as Ponzi-architect Louis Tobin (Len Cariou), creators Todd Kessler, Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman offer us the mouth-watering opportunity to see what would happen if our gal Patty could get to the bottom of things, all in the name of the defrauded masses: murder and mayhem, of course, presented in the show's signature and still tantalizing time-warped bits and carried out by yet another killer ensemble. …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
… FX sent the first two episodes of Season 3 for review and - yep - they are pretty addictive. Save for one far-fetched incident, the two hours provided enough clues as to where the season will head - and how much conflict from secrets and lies will be coming down the pike - to hook fans of the show who might have been waffling on the commitment. The trouble is, of course, that's just two episodes. There's plenty of time for the whole thing to go sideways. …
… The show's co-creators, Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman, wrote the premiere episode "Your Secrets Are Safe" (and Todd also directed). They pack everything that's smart and great and beautiful about Damages into this intro. …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
… As season three begins, "Damages" finally gets its formula right. Almost nothing from the past two seasons -- beyond the wary Ellen-Patty relationship -- has any bearing on this week's season premiere. Better yet, Ellen is more realistically working outside of Hewes & Associates in the district attorney's office. …
… TV’s best legal drama opens with a series-changing stunner. It starts with a car crash. It ends with the discovery of a body. The identity of that corpse will rattle fans of the show. The revelations next week only deliver on “Damages’ ” promise to shake things up in in its third season. If the series survives to a fourth year - and this fan hopes so - it will never be the same. Of course, all these dire revelations come via “Damages’ ” six-month flash-forwards. They have never been more suspenseful. …
… Any way you slice it, this is big-brain TV -- the kind of program that must be watched with close attention paid to the small details. … FX has often made its bones by seeking to push the pay-cable envelope in terms of standards, sometimes gratuitously so; "Damages" demonstrates that envelope-pushers needn't be edgier, necessarily, just smarter.
Truly, I despise that “ER” eventually evolved into the quickly cancelled “Stamos’ Anatomy,” but I will say that “ER’s” 15th and final season provided a stellar hour of television that reunited the departed George Clooney, Juliana Marguiles, Noah Wyle, Eriq LaSalle and writer-director John Wells.
The seventh season of “Entourage” turned Vincent Chase into a drug-addled jerk. Eric settled down with Sloan. Billy Walsh started pitching Drama on a cartoon show. Turtle started selling tequila. Sasha Grey demonstrated again she is one shitty actress. Ari got involved with the NFL, making the series feel more like “Arli$$” than ever. Maybe the most banal stretch of “Entourage” to date.
Herc’s Popular Pricing Pantry
From the creators of “Team America” and “Book of Mormon”!! Every episode of “That’s My Bush,” $26.98 last year and $21.49 last week, is momentarily at an ALL TIME LOW of $11.49/Season!! (57% Off!!)
The Blu-ray version of the BBC’s “Galapagos,” $20.99 in March, $16.49 in April and $15.49 in June, has momentarily fallen to an all-time low of $9.99!! (66% Off!!)
The latter two seasons of the brilliant “Veronica Mars,” from the creator of “Cupid” and “Party Down,” are momentarily $17.99/Season!! (70% Off!!)
TV-on-Disc Calendar
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According To Jim 4.x
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The Cape: The Complete Series
Dynasty 5.x
Eureka 4.x Vol. 1
Land Girls 2.x
Mannix 5.x
Mannix Five-Season Pack
McMillan & Wife 4.x
McMillan & Wife 5.x
Mysteries At The Museum 1.x
The PJs 2.x
Tom & Jerry: Fur Flying Adventures Vol. 2
Transformers Japanese Collection: Headmasters
Victorious 1.x Vol. 1
A Woman's Guide To Adultery: The Complete Miniseries
This Week
Robot Chicken: Star Wars III (Blu-ray)
Thundercats 1.x Vol. 1
Next Week
American Muscle Car: The Complete Series
California Dreams: Best Of
Doctor Who 6.x Vol. 1
Doctor Who 6.x Vol. 1 (Blu-ray)
Epitafios 2.x
Fun In Busytown
Get Along Gang: Best Of
The Girls Next Door 6.x
Hey Dude 1.x
The iCarly Collection
Kendra 1.x
The Littles: Complete Collection
Mandrake 1.x
Melrose Place 6.x Vol. 2
Melrose Place 6.x
Reggie Perrin Vol. 1
Simon & Simon: Best of 3.x
Smurfs: A Magical Smurf Adventure
Torchwood: The Complete U.K. Series (Blu-ray)
Ultraman 1.x Vol. 2
Young Justice 1.x Vol. 1
July 26
The Bretts: The Complete Collection
Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe
Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe (Blu-ray)
Conan The Adventurer 1.x
Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis: The Colgate Comedy Hour
Dennis The Menace 2.x
Here's Lucy: Best Of
Honeymooners: Best Of The Color Episodes
Honeymooners: Best Of The Lost Episodes
Justice League 2.x (Blu-ray)
Shaun The Sheep Vol. 10
Snapped 1.x
Stargate Atlantis: The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
Supernatural Anime
Supernatural Anime (Blu-ray)
Wish Me Luck 3.x
August 2
Ben 10 Ultimate Alien Vol. 3
The Colony 2.x
Eastbound and Down 1.x (Blu-ray)
Eastbound and Down 2.x
Eastbound and Down 2.x (Blu-ray)
Everwood 4.x
Forensic Files: Conviction Overturned
Forensic Files: Crimes Of Passion
Forensic Files: Death By Poison
Forensic Files: Historic Cases
Forensic Files: Kidnapping Cases
Forensic Files: Medical Mysteries
Forensic Files: Serial Killers
Forensic Files: Sex Crimes
Garrow's Law 2.x
Hell's Kitchen 5.x
Hell's Kitchen 5.x (Blu-ray)
McMillan 6.x
McMillan & Wife: The Complete Series
Mystery Science Theatre XXI
Pie In The Sky 5.x
Samantha Brown's Passport to Great Weekends Vol. 3